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It's not really our thing to show open support for any specific club, but we here at KP have a real soft spot for FC Barcelona. As a football business they tend to run counter to the prevailing model for big clubs and emphasise community, fair play and youth development in their culture, often over profits and economic bottom lines.

The European Championship final was in some ways, therefore, a contest between the big business and limited ownership approach of Man Utd and Barca's more integrated, community-based and socially conscious model.

I know which one I prefer.

So, big congrats to all at Barca for a fine achievement, managed in the best spirit of the game and in the interests of football fans the world over.

Perhaps they will inspire other big teams to adopt their joyful and soulful approach to the beautiful game.

Good to see Puma is making some moves to address its environmental and social footprint, but I still see some gaps in their system.

For one, employing big accounting firms to run your corporate social responsibility program might sound impressive, but my experience is that they are not always the best options. Such firms are generally very adept at knowing what they can get away with and in a context where legislation doesnt really exist - as is the case with big corporations using off-shore supply lines - it's often more a case of what can be got away with; a very minimalist approach.

Second, it is concerning that the company still hasnt set up systems to ensure its social impact is even being assessed, let alone decreased. As the article suggests, this is still to be established.

In today's world, this should already have been done long ago.

For the Kick Project, it is important that we are closely examining the social profile of those with whom we work, as partners and d…

I did this vid with my niece Vanessa from Karma Media productions in Melbourne. I'll upload it as a permanent feature of the site when I get around to it, but it seems a shame no-one is seeing it - so here it is.

Perhaps some French bureaucrats have forgotten its the world game. It's not about nationalities and what colours you wear - or are.

National rivarly can bring extra juice to any football game. But only if its kept in the right spirit and if it doesnt spill over into actual conflict or abuse.

If this French move is true, it's something we need to watch. Especially as it appears at a time when France is spending a lot of time wringing its hand s over how not to accept north African asylum seekers landing on their doorstep.

This looks like a political knee-jerk, to pander to some unsavoury attitudes coming out of even major figures in France today. It has no place it today's game.

Benefit of the doubt though and let's see how it pans out and whether the real football fan-based kicks up enough about it to quash it.

While the Emirates women's league had a successful first year, plans to open it up - both in terms of foreign participation and in a literal sense, taking it outdoors and in front of the public (last season all games were played indoors with no spectators), support for change is not universal.

Interestingly, the arguments against opening up comes from many of the women participants themselves.

Apparently, they consider men will simply come to mock and/or leer and seem to prefer a closed league.

To me, this simply symbolises the problems inherent in such uneven social structures as exist in such cultures. Treating women differently to men in terms of general society is not in itself problematic, assuming women themselves are part of the process, but using that difference as a means of discrimination - which has clearly happened in some Islamic societies (and not just Islamic societies it must be added) - is damaging for all.